Explore Solids and Liquids!: With 25 Great Projects

by Kathleen M. Reilly, Bryan Stone (Illustrator)

For a kid, watching a solid turn into a liquid or a liquid into a gas is nothing short of magic. In Explore Solids and Liquids! With 25 Great Projects kids experience the wonder of different states of matter. They’ll learn what matter is made of, how it can change, and how these interactions really work in our universe. With plenty of activities and projects, young readers gain a solid understanding of the matter they touch, see, feel, and experience every single day.

As young readers discover the basic concepts and vocabulary of chemistry, they will experiment with household objects to discover how solids, liquids, and gases occupy space. Kids will dissolve solids into liquids and bring them back again, use salt and pepper to demonstrate water's surface tension, and fly helium-filled balloons to see what happens to molecules at different temperatures. Illustrated with cartoon illustrations and filled with fun facts, Explore Solids and Liquids! makes science entertaining and exciting.

Explore Solids and Liquids! meets common core state standards in language arts for reading informational text and literary nonfiction and is aligned with Next Generation Science Standards. Guided Reading Levels and Lexile measurements indicate grade level and text complexity.

Genres: Nonfiction

96 pages, Paperback

First published August 12, 2014

About the author

It all started with a four-inch book written in green crayon on peach paper, called "The Rabbet and Dog and Cat." Yes, I realize that's not how rabbit is spelled. I know that now. But when I was five, I wasn't worried about the spelling. I was too busy creating my masterpiece ("illustrated by the author").

Today, I write on the computer (look, Ma, no crayons!) -- my books include chick lit (HALFSIE), nonfiction (Nomad Press series), a middle grade (REGINALD PEPPER) and an upcoming young adult novel (SHE).

I'd love to talk about books with you!

Reviews

[Denise · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a pretty comprehensive look at matter complete with experiments and kid-friendly illustrations. The experiments include materials kids are likely to have on hand at home, something parents will appreciate. I can see kids using this book at home with their parents and teachers using it in the classroom. The author explains and encourages children to use the scientific method and record findings in a "science notebook." There are some factoids sprinkled throughout, words to know and the back-matter includes a mad lib, glossary, index and additional resources. I especially enjoyed the section on oobleck.